The stakes are always high when it comes to the South Wales derby, especially for managers.
Because the last decade of meetings between Swansea City and Cardiff City have shown it is not just bragging rights on the line for bosses in this fixture – it is their jobs.
A remarkable statistic circulated on social media this week, pointing out that Erol Bulut will become the first Cardiff manager to take charge of both derby fixtures in a season since the days of Dave Jones.
But the derby dugout quirk goes further, showing that the last 11 managers to have lost this fixture have not been in place by the time the next derby comes around.
And again you have to go back to Jones’ time in charge of the Bluebirds for the last boss to have been beaten in a derby and still be in the job for the return match.
That came in November 2010 when Marvin Emnes’ goal inflicted a home defeat on Cardiff, only for a Jones-led side to get revenge at the Liberty Stadium three months later via a Craig Bellamy beauty.
Brendan Rodgers was the Swans boss that day but had left for Liverpool by the time the teams renewed rivalries in the Premier League in 2013.
And so the derby ‘curse’ continued with Michael Laudrup and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer both losing games and being removed from their posts by the time the sides met again in the Championship in 2019.
There, Swansea wins under Steve Cooper saw both Neil Warnock and Neil Harris depart before the next fixture rolled around – with a goalless draw in between providing a stay of execution.
And when Cooper’s Swans were upset at home by Mick McCarthy’s Bluebirds, the Welshman had moved on before McCarthy’s trip west the following season.
The man who replaced Cooper, Russell Martin, then proceeded to oversee four straight derby wins against four different Cardiff managers, with McCarthy, Steve Morison, Mark Hudson and Sabri Lamouchi all only managing one derby each.
And while Martin left the fixture unbeaten when he joined Southampton, the curse continued when Michael Duff lasted 11 weeks after a comfortable Cardiff win last September following Bulut’s arrival.
Saturday marks Luke Williams’ turn to try out just how high the stakes are, although he has sampled the passions as part of Martin’s victorious coaching staff.
Meanwhile Bulut has the chance to engineer a first ever Cardiff double in the fixture – something that would no doubt add to the voices backing him for a new contract beyond the summer.
But if history is anything to go by, if there is a winner on Saturday, only one will be around by the next time the South Wales rivals go head to head.